I want to get a cat

[Blarg]

Depends entirely on the landlord in two ways.

First, is it anywhere on the lease? If it's not, will he think to suddenly put it on the lease when you ask, so it would be better off shutting up? If it is on the lease or he seems against it when talking to him, can you convince him otherwise? If you make a good impression, the landlord will sometimes bend the rules, especially if someone else in the apartments have animals. Try to notice if you hear dogs barking or cat noises or whatever in the complex as you walk through. If so, you can probably wrangle an allowance for a pet in there just because the landlord won't want to look like he's playing favorites.

Second, does the landlord come by to check your apartment often? If he never comes by(sometimes you don't see them for years, but sometimes you get a bad building that is worked on all the time), and if your cat never makes noise at all, you may be able to get away with having a cat even when you agreed not to have one. But if he finds out you got a cat one day, you can sometimes still get away with it because the landlord might not want to lose a good tenant. Alternatively, he may be happy to use it as an excuse to kick you out so he can raise the rent.

HOWEVER, in each of these situations, you will probably have the landlord try to get extra money out of you for the supposed damage a cat might cause. Often this will be de facto unrefundable, because security deposits against damage are routinely kept by landlords, alleging that whatever normal wear and tear occurred during your tenancy was excessive and he should be compensated for it. Unless you're willing to go to court to prove different AND have lots of solid photographic evidence, the money is with the landlord until the law pries it out of him. This could run you anywhere from 100 to 300 extra in essentially lost money.

If you can just ask about pets over the phone before you even show up, it can save you a lot of time and effort and sneaking around.